The Black Cats’ January budget is yet to be confirmed, but they are likely to have to buy to sell, and doing that will be easier said than done. Coleman is left with the players signed in the summer, and those they found no takers for after relegation from the Premier League.

Djilobodji was moved out, like Jeremain Lens, Fabio Borini and Wahbi Khazri, but the best Sunderland could do was loan moves for them. Now the possibility of selling Djilobodji has emerged, though it is still far from guaranteed.

Read More

Celta were linked with the 28-year-old as far back as the summer of 2015, and current coach Juan Carlos Unzue reportedly sees him as the man to shore up a leaky defence. They are 13th in La Liga, having conceded 19 goals in 12 games.

Sunderland's Papy Djilobodji (Image: PA)

There is speculation Djilobodji and Vigo have reached an agreement on a January move, but the price might be an obstacle. Speculation two years ago that the club had a provisional agreement with the Senegal centre-back came to nothing.

Djilobodji cost Sunderland £8m from Chelsea in the summer of 2016, and the difficulty the Black Cats had moving on their unwanted foreign players in particular is down in part to the huge disparity in wages between the Premier League and other leagues.

Read More

Burton Albion 0-2 Sunderland

Djilobodji has impressed with Dijon, where he has been a Ligue 1 ever-present, but the loan move did not include an obligation to buy the player.

Interest from Betis should help Sunderland’s chances of getting a fee for the player, however.

Coleman will more than likely try to move Lamine Kone on in the next transfer window, but this was something Simon Grayson was unable to do. Kone was much in demand on the back of an outstanding first half-season at the Stadium of Light in early 2016, but his form has declined rapidly since. He is out injured at present, and not expected to return until the transfer window opens.

Read More

When asked if he had been given assurances about his January transfer budget, Coleman said on Monday : “Maybe we will have to regenerate some cash ourselves.

“I look at it and think I have got to stimulate the situation and get people excited. Once we do that and I am confident we will do that, then I think maybe we can go to Martin (Bain, the chief executive) and say, ‘Look, we have a chance now to take it to another level, but we need a little bit of investment.’”